Mining loves silence – Newspaper Kommersant No. 238 (7439) of 12/22/2022

The long-awaited bill regulating the mining of cryptocurrencies and announced for the first reading on December 20 has been postponed to next year. Anatoly Aksakov, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on the Financial Market, in a conversation with Kommersant expressed the hope that the document would be considered in January. Now, according to the deputy, the bill is at the stage of discussions with coordinating institutions “around the breadth of the aspects under consideration.”

The main opponent on the issue of mining is traditionally the Central Bank. However, since the beginning of the year, his position has softened significantly – from a complete rejection of the organization of the issuance of cryptocurrencies (see Kommersant-Online of October 20) to the legalization of at least mining (which is spelled out in the bill). The Ministry of Finance has consistently advocated both the legalization of mining and the circulation of cryptocurrency on the domestic market.

The positions of regulators regarding cross-border settlements in cryptocurrency were brought closer by the tightening of sanctions against the largest banks, including their disconnection from the SWIFT financial information transfer system.

The Central Bank held out to the last: back in early December, they insisted on selling the cryptocurrency received in the process of mining only on foreign exchanges to non-residents. However, by the middle of the month, the regulator softened again, allowing settlements in cryptocurrencies within the country “within the framework of an experimental legal regime and through an authorized organization.”

However, the differences cannot be called settled: the Ministry of Finance continues to insist on an even more liberal approach. Deputy Finance Minister Aleksey Moiseev says that the new position of the Central Bank brings “under the ban mining, which is not carried out within the experimental legal regime,” that is, “in fact, total licensing.”

Market participants also note that a new barrier appears for trade in the Russian Federation, which does not exist now. In addition, other prohibitions are introduced, for example, in terms of advertising. In such conditions, the legal department of the State Duma decided that the bill should be sent for approval to the Central Bank. However, experts believe that the process will be delayed again.

However, it is unlikely that representatives of the industry are rooting for the speedy adoption of even a modified bill. They believe that the document will affect the processes rather negatively, “because without it everything worked and works better.” And the clauses on the prohibition of turnover will not help the industry and will increase the outflow of specialists and projects. Thus, the ongoing disagreements between the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank regarding the regulation of cryptocurrencies do not upset the business, but, on the contrary, allow them to take advantage of the ongoing uncertainty that creates a window of opportunity.